Tuning-peg for musical string-instruments



Patented Nov. 7

UNITED t, STATES PATENT CEEICE.

I LARS L. FILSTRUP, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TUNING-PEG FOR MUSICAL STRING-INSTRUMENTS.

.SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,098, dated November-"7, 1893.

Application filed January 12, 1893. Serial o. 458,120. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, LARS L. FILSTRUP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Tuning-Pegs for Musical String-Instruments, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to au improvement in the class of tuning-pegs for string instruments,Which involve, as their generallystated construction, a peg or shaft fitting the opening or openings provided to receive it in the neck of the instrument and to which the string is fastened, a thumb-piece on the outer end of the peg, and toward which the peg and its opening relatively taper, a screw inserted into the end of the peg through the thumb-piece, and some means whereby forcing in the screw will tighten the shaft in its bearing and thus prevent the peg from slipping under the strain of the tightened string.

The object of my improvementis to provide a novel, simplified, and efficacious construction of tuning-peg device in the foregoing class. This object I attain by the construction hereinafter described and set forth in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a broken longitudinal section of the neck-portion of a banjo, guitar, or like String instrument provided with my improvement in one form. Figs. 2 and 3 are somewhat similar views showing other forms of my improvement. Fig. 4 is a broken view, partly in section, of the neck of a violin, provided with my improvement in the form adapting it to that particular instrument.

The essential features of my improvement are a peg A having its bearing in a bushing -fastened in a bore B or socket formed through the neck C of the instrument the peg being provided on its projecting end with a thumbpiece D, by which to turn it, and which bears against the surface of the neck or end of the bushing and is held in place by a screw E passed through its outer end into and working in the end of the peg. It is also essential in my improvement that the part of the peg A which fits in the bushing, and the interior of the bushing itself, shall taper in the direction toward the end of the peg carrying the thumb-piece.

With this construction the operation will be readily understood to be as follows: Vith a string F fastened to the inner end of the peg at the opening r, and drawn thereon by winding, the peg vmay be set against slipping by turning the screw E in the direction necessary to draw the peg towardvits tapering end in the direction of the taper of the bushing, whereby it becomes, as it were, wedged in place. When'it is required to draw the string for the purpose of tuning, the screw E is loosened, whereupon the peg .may be easily turned, and is subsequently again fastened against slipping by turning the screw E in the opposite direction. To save the thumbpiece D from wear by friction against the surface ot` the neck C, a metal washer q should be interposed.

The bushing may be threaded externally, as shown in Figs; l, 2 and 4, and thus adapted to be screwed into the bore B; and, moreover, it may be split longitudinally, as represented at a: in Fig. 2, (wherein it is denoted by the reference B2) to cause it to assume the desired tapered form by crowding it into its bore.` Instead, however, of being threaded, it may be provided, asrepresented in Fig. 3, with two or more external longitudinal iinsp which, when the bushing is driven into its bore B, prevent it from being turned therein.

The key illustrated in Fig. 4 and adapted for use in a violin, involves the same principle of construction and operation as the key illustrated in the other iigures,differing therefrom only in having bearing in both sides of the violin neck, and in being provided around the bushing B', at the inner side'of the bore containing it, with a jam nut o, screwed upon the inner end of the bushing against the adjacent side of the neck, to reinforce the latter and prevent splitting thereof by the strain in tightening the peg.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In combination with a string-instrument having a tuning-peg bore extending through its neck, a tuning-peg device comprising a bushing extending through and fastened in the said bore and tapering internally toward one end, a peg A having its bearing in the bushing and tapering correspondingly therewith and adapted, toward one end, to have a string fastened to it, a thumb-piece D on the IOO opposite end of the peg, and a screw E inserted through and bearing against the outer end of the thumb-piece and extending into and Working in the adjacent end of the peg, substantiall y as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a violin-neck, a tuning-peg device comprising a bushing fastened in and extending through the bore in one side of the neck and tapering internally to- Ward its outer end, a jam-nut 0 on the inner end of the bushing against the adjacent side of the neck, a peg A having its bearing in the bushing and tapering correspondingly therewith and adapted, toward one end, to have a string fastened to it, a thumb-piece D on the opposite end of the peg, a Washer q on the peg, interposed between the bushing and thumb-piece, and a screw E inserted through and bearing against the outer end of the thumb-piece and extending into and Working in the adjacent end of the peg, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

LARS L. FILSTRUP. In presence 0- W. N. WILLIAMS, M. J. FROST. 

